Keeping the Customer Happy

Alfresco areas of the venue have become even more important than past years. Since the introduction of strict smoke free laws in venues, it has become imperative to provide comfortable, safe and welcoming outdoor areas.

It is not just about the banishment of your smoking clientele to a horrible, dirty, un-loved outdoor area, just because it is still legal to smoke. These clients have been solid supporters of your venue for years and just because Government regulations force them outside to smoke, they are still the same clients that propped up the bar with a beer and a fag watching footy, the races or the cricket for more years than you can remember.

YES, THEY ARE CUSTOMERS and deserve the same level of service they have experienced for years.

With a small level of thought and some serious planning, you can retain your traditional clients for ever. Their environment must be as inviting as your current indoor environment. This includes their traditional TAB, TV for sports viewing, outdoor gaming (NSW) and if you want to be adventurous, an outdoor bar with full service so they don’t feel as though the only place that matters is the bar inside. Service the area, clean the area, make it comfortable and more importantly, make it part of your venue.

If the area is climatically controlled with some of the most sophisticated outdoor climate control systems available, your clients will stay and ultimately spend more money in your venue.

Put in comfortable all weather lounge settings, not just a bar stool and table with a dirty ash tray. Make this environment as cosy as it is inside. THEY ARE STILL CUSTOMERS.

Weather proof the area, because the smoker has no rights when it comes to spending time in your venue – they must go outside.

Outdoor settings, heating, cooling and awnings available in Australia are some of the best available in the world today. With a limited discussion with your design team, you will be exposed to some of the most exciting design ideas available. It will be worth your while as these ideas will become very important revenue to your venue in years to come.

It is part of an Aussie way of life to enjoy the outdoors and we all enjoy the varied climate Australia throws at us. Make the outdoor areas at your venue inviting and watch the traditional clients invite their friends to join them in this warm comfortable environment.

When these anti-social laws were introduced to force your long serving smoking customers outside, the Government never asked venues if they would like the opportunity to be “smoking or non-smoking” venues. They just said, this is how it is going to be.

Cigar Bars, which if you were not going to smoke you wouldn’t go into, were forced to shut their doors, because they were not offered an exemption for cigar smokers. How ridiculous those cigar smokers were not allowed a designated venue to indulge their pleasure, at no harm to others.

Bars, Pubs, Clubs and Cafes have had to go to expense to cater for their clients smoking habits, that according to current law, is still  a legal habit (Governments extract too much tax to ban the habit) so as reputable venues, you owe it to your clients to provide the same environment they were used to inside your venue.

by Kevin Smith, Director of Keverton Outdoor Pty Ltd

Keverton Outdoor